The sport of bowling is well known, and played by millions. We are concerned here with the bowling ball, which is large and heavy, and of a diameter that makes it virtually impossible to be safely handled with one hand. In order to propel the ball with one hand, holes are drilled into the ball for insertion of the fingers of the bowler's preferred hand. Most often, three such holes, for a thumb and two fingers, are precisely drilled, defining a triangle on the surface of the ball. Using them, the bowler can propel the ball down the alley in a fluid, one-handed motion toward the bowling pins.
The diameters of the drilled holes are chosen to accommodate the individual user. Since each person has differing finger sizes, bowling balls are typically custom fit for optimum efficacy. This presents a less than ideal solution because the owner of the ball will find that his fingers will not always fit the holes as well as he might like, due to changes in finger size from swelling, injury, or weight gain or loss. Moreover, other people will not be able to use that ball as the holes will be the wrong size for their fingers. Finger holes are typically drilled in increments of 1/32 inch, and since human fingers are not formed in 1/32 inch increments, this presents an undesirable compromise.
The situation is most acute for the novice bowler who, typically, does not own a ball, but `borrows` one from the bowling alley. The novice must search through of the many `loaners` available at the establishment to hopefully find one that gives the best fit. Compromise in this situation is unavoidable.
Further, since the bowling ball is by necessity made from a hard material, frequent bowling often results in sore fingers, chafing, or even blisters and calluses. Particularly strong bowlers, known in the vernacular as `crankers`, commonly release the ball with a severe rotation of the wrist and fingers to impart spin to the ball and create a curved path for the ball to impact the pins. This type of ball release requires the user's fingers to withstand a significant amount of side pressure, creating fatigue and discomfort.
Prior art solution have attempted to solve these problems by providing many types of finger hole inserts for bowling balls. Typical of such inserts are those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,968,033; 4,289,312; 5,176,378; 4,778,178; 2,842,367; 4,773,645; and 4,561,654. One solution is posed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,289,312 which discloses a finger hole insert made from resilient vinyl. During the delivery of the ball, the insert is said to compress under the bowler's finger pressure. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that elastomers such as vinyls and rubbers do not compress, but merely displace, and inserts of this type have minimal, if any compliance to accommodate varying finger sizes. The variety of ideas found in these patents attest to the need for a solution to the problem. Most bowlers today continue to suffer from poor finger fit, and as a consequence, compromise the optimum situation.
Clearly, the problems illustrated above would find a solution in a bowling ball having holes whose diameters could be easily adjusted, and whose holes could provide compliance. The present invention provides such a solution.